Dwyane Wade Gives Feedback on References in Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Jay Z Songs

Rappers love referencing NBA players in their lyrics.

So, given that he’s a 12-time All-Star and three-time NBA champion, Dwyane Wade has heard his fair share of shoutouts from the biggest hip-hop stars in the game.

On Monday, the new Chicago Bulls guard teamed up with Genius to annotate some lyrics.

Here’s what we learned:

• Nicki Minaj’s “Want Some More” was the first song Wade and his wife, Gabrielle Union, heard their names in together.
• The 34-year-old had never heard Kendrick Lamar’s D-Wade line in “Blood Sport” prior to teaming up with Genius.
• Hearing Jay Z’s LeBron James/Wade line in “Empire State of Mind” was the moment Flash felt like he “made it in pop culture.”
• He loved Dwayne Wayne from A Different World, so Wade appreciated Kanye’s name-drop in “The Glory,” although he didn’t quite understand it.

Here’s Wade on what it means to get this type of respect from musicians:

“[F]or an artist that is as great as they are and someone I respect for their greatness, hard work and time they put in, for them to look at something you’ve done in your career—whether they compare themselves to you or like what you’re doing, to me, man that is a big honor.”

[h/t Complex]